A tremendous red sun was setting in a tremendous red sky and Ak-Nobb was perched 1,454 feet in the air.
His coat was dark brown and his wings were black.
He was huge, even for a peryton, and when he stood on high and spread his wings – he looked most impressive.
From his ruined skyscraper, he looked out on a ruined city, riding on a ruined world – and he was lord of all he surveyed.
From his vantage, he waited and watched until a tremendous moon rose over the ocean. Then, dropping his head, he quit his perch.
His antlers cut through the wind as he swooped toward the city below. The shadow that he cast was that of a man and, as he flew, his shadow was joined by others as he gathered his flock for the hunt.
Hundreds of human shadows slid against the gutted buildings that served as nests for the peryton.
No humans lived here anymore — the peryton was a man-eater.